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James Pillans
James Pillans invents the modern blackboard. -
Boston English High School,
Boston English High School, one of the first public high schools in the U.S., opens. -
The New England Asylum for the Blind
The New England Asylum for the Blind, now the Perkins School for the Blind, opens in Massachusetts, becoming the first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities. -
Horace Mann becomes Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education
Horace Mann becomes Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. A visionary educator and proponent of public (or "free") schools, Mann works tirelessly for increased funding of public schools and better training for teachers. -
first school superintendent.
Louisville, Kentucky appoints the first school superintendent. -
The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin,
The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin, founded by Margarethe Schurz. Four years later, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opens the first "formal" kindergarten in Boston, MA. -
Abraham Lincoln,
Abraham Lincoln, an anti-slavery Republican, is elected president. -
The Panic of 1873 causes bank foreclosures, business failures, and job loss.
The economic depression that follows results in reduced revenues for education. Southern schools are hit particularly hard, making a bad situation even worse -
Edouard Seguin becomes the first President of the Association of Medical Officers
Edouard Seguin becomes the first President of the Association of Medical Officers of American Institutions for Idiotic and Feebleminded Persons, which evolves into the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
